


love in the time of calamity ganon

by comeseetheduck



Category: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-24
Updated: 2019-11-19
Packaged: 2020-05-18 18:12:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,251
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19339870
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/comeseetheduck/pseuds/comeseetheduck
Summary: I will buy us an acreof some land in the citywe could live there togetheror I'll live alone less happybut I'll live, unfortunately





	1. Chapter 1

A part of her expected Link to speak.

She remembers the old days, back before the weight of the world was thrown against their shoulders, but only barely. When they were kids, she would play tag inside of the castle library with Link, barely capable of covering up their laughter. Even before that was a hundred years ago those memories felt just as old. A part of her had hoped that now that the evil was defeated, they would be able to go back to wide-eyed smiles and giggling.

Link looked into her eyes, and then knelt, and Zelda tried her hardest not to cry.

* * *

Living in the castle was out of the question, of course. The amount of work that they would have to do to repair the castle – the entire nation, really – was never going to happen overnight. However, they still needed a place to stay and plan, and as much as the stables were places a person could sleep, they didn’t operate well as a place for a person to be able to live.

Zelda paces outside of the stables, muttering all of this to herself, only barely paying attention to Link who is sitting on a stump while a dog sits next to his feet. After pacing for what feels like a half hour she makes direct eye contact with Link, who is still sitting there, as if he was waiting for her to stop.

“What is it, Link?”

Before Link signs his response to Zelda – “I have a house” – Zelda notices the way that he pauses. On the long ride towards Hateno Village, she thinks about their dynamic before the Calamity. Link got a window into her most vulnerable moments in a way that nobody else in her entire inner circle did, and yet: how often did she ever see him at his low points? It couldn’t be because they didn’t happen. She had observed Link after he woke up – she had seen him at his lowest points. At least, she thought she had. Could she ever know Link, really? Could Link ever know who she really was?

Was it fair for her to feel disappointed that Link, after going through all of that just to save the kingdom, didn’t react in the way that she wanted him to? Maybe he just had a different way of showing that he cared, after all. For every person that had dismissed and ignored her, Link had always been there, listening to what she was saying. On top of that, he had gone through all the work of finding her a descendent of the royal horses. Maybe there was a way to ask Link about these types of things. Until then, the night was approaching and Hateno Village was nearby.

* * *

She didn’t know what to expect when she opened the doors of Link’s house. As much as Link had been a constant presence around her before the Calamity she never spent much time thinking about how he lived outside of her. Maybe she had expected something a lot more threadbare and minimalist, instead of a house that was pretty well decorated. It felt lived-in, despite the fact that she knew that Link hadn’t spent that much time here. In any case, she continued to look around the small house and at the trinkets that were left from Link’s adventures – including a picture of them, together, with the other Champions – but it was when her hand began to slowly open up his dresser did she hear a plate of cooked food slam against the table a bit too loudly.

That night, Zelda thought about Link’s face in that moment – confused? Embarrassed? Worried? She couldn’t quite parse it, but it didn’t seem likely that she was going to get a straight answer from him anyways. The house was dimly lit by the swords glowing on the wall, and for the first time in a hundred years everything around her was quiet except for the sound of her own thoughts running around in her mind. It felt warm, and safe, but it also felt lonely. She was truly alone, even as Link sat outside of the door, waiting and watching for any danger.

_Loneliness. What an odd feeling this must be._

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

Zelda’s plan to reunite Hyrule took her a year to write.

Most of her days consisted of waking up, sitting at the table to write, and only being interrupted whenever Link would give her food. Eventually Link’s entire house became consumed with her work, with maps and diagrams pinned on the walls, rough drafts and discarded writings all over the floor. The work consumed her. Most of the conversations that she had with Link were about the plan to go to all of the other kingdoms to fully restart the process of rebuilding and to make some sort of representational government – there was no way that she was going to become a monarchal queen.

Not after a failure like hers.

* * *

The nightmares had always been there, even before the Calamity, but they had seemed to go away during the first month of sleeping in Link’s bed. She tried not to think about why that had happened. In some ways, it was almost a relief that within a month, they had come back. Some things never change. The content of the dreams depended from night to night. Some nights it was watching the Calamity kill every person that she loved. Some nights she would be trapped with Ganon, trying to hold him back but failing. Some nights she would see her mother. Those nights always felt the worst.

It was one of those nights when she was woken up by Link.

She could tell that he had run up the stairs to get there by the way that his chest heaved a little bit as he inhaled. It was too dark to fully see the features of his face, but she could tell that he was concerned. His hands were on her shoulders. He only ever touched her when he was concerned.

 “Link, I’m fine,” she lied.

_You were screaming._

Her understanding of Link’s signs was imperfect because Link went out of his way to not talk to her and she didn’t know most of the new slang that he had picked up, but she knew the sign for screaming. It was pretty obvious even in the dark. She took Link’s hands into her own. “It was just a dream, Link.” Link nodded and withdrew his own hands. Zelda immediately started having regrets as Link walked back down the stairs. How could she even ask Link to stay? He was already doing so much for her.

As Link opened the door to go back outside, he turned back to look at Zelda. With the door open, she could finally fully see Link’s face and the concern painted all over it. It seemed as if time stopped as they looked at each other. Zelda swallowed a lump in her throat that she hadn’t realized was there.

“Link?”

Link stood still.

“Could you stay?”

Link nodded, closed the door, and walked back up the stairs to the bed. He sat on the floor next to the bed until Zelda fell back asleep.

* * *

This became their arrangement for the next few weeks – Link would stay inside next to Zelda until she fell asleep, and then when she woke up in the morning Link would be gone, with food already on the table ready for her to eat. On the nights that she woke up from her dreams, Link would be right there next to her, and would rub circles in Zelda’s back until she went back to sleep. Him being there definitely helped, but it didn’t fix the problem. Eventually, the dreams started changing.

This dream involved Link. She sees him, standing in a field, and as she runs to him, he drops to the ground in pain as the blood moon rises. He’s bleeding from the eyes and the mouth, shaking uncontrollably, and there’s nothing that she can do to save him. This time, when she wakes up, she knows that she’s been screaming. She can feel it in her throat. And just like every time, Link is there, awake with eyes full of worry. This time, instead of waving him off, she pulls him into herself and starts sobbing. Her words are muffled by his chest and she doesn’t even know what she’s saying, but she finds herself a step away from saying that she is in love with him.

Is that even true? Or was she just afraid of losing one of the few people that she had left?

Link, always the good friend, lets her cry. And when Zelda pulls him into the bed next to her, he doesn’t resist.


	3. Chapter 3

The first time that Link slept in her bed, Zelda didn’t have another nightmare for a full two weeks. The second time that Link slept in her bed, when Zelda woke up the next morning all of her supplies had been tucked away to somewhere, the table was set with a massive breakfast, and Link sat in front of the steaming pastries, looking towards Zelda’s bed.

While Link had initially did all of the cooking for Zelda, she had started making her own breakfasts for two reasons: one, making her own food was a nice change of pace from all of the writing and planning she had been spending the past few months doing. She didn’t really leave the house too often with all of the work that she had to do and switching up her responsibilities was keeping her sane a little bit. The second reason was all about wanting to feel a little bit self-reliant. Link had done so much for her. It was nothing to take over some of his responsibilities so that he could continue doing… whatever it was he was doing during the days.

In any case, her first reaction to the table was shock. Her second reaction was anger.

“Link, where are my notes?”

_Time to eat._

“Link, I _really_ need to know where my work is.”

_No work today._

It was only then that the idea of taking a break from her responsibilities came across Zelda’s mind. It had been nearly three full months of non-stop work – kind of like back in the days when she was a Real Princess – and now Link was doing his best to drag her out of the same mindset that helped her destroy the world. She laughs for the first time in what feels like a hundred years. Some things don’t change.

“Okay, Link. I’m not working today. What am I going to do instead?”

While she eats her breakfast, Zelda thinks about the pause between her asking her question and Link’s answer. Link is usually so confident, and yet, for a moment, he paused. Was he unsure of himself? Was he being bashful?

Did she want him to be that?

Spending an entire day with Link. Something new.

Link gives her a look, because she’s been zoned out for what feels like a half hour, and she makes a silly face back at him. He laughs, and Zelda’s stomach does a backflip.

* * *

Hateno Village is nice.

She doubts that Link usually spends his day running errands within the village – how could he collect so much material without going into the wilderness? – but it still is a nice change of pace. She doesn’t think that anybody here knows who she is. If they knew who she was – or how she failed – she probably would be getting more stares and judgement from the villagers.

In the clothing store, the clerk brings her to a back room so that she can try out a dress. She thinks about the way that Link looks at the dress. She suspects that he had paid for the dress and was hoping to keep it as a surprise for her. When she tries it on the skirt is too long and the chest area is too tight. She doesn’t know why.

* * *

She tries to cook for Link after his errands are completed. He refuses.

As Link washes the dishes, she gets ready for bed. There’s not too much privacy in the house when they’re both in the room, but at this point she trusts Link to not stare at her. _Not that I would mind,_ she thinks for a brief moment, before stomping out that train of thought.

She’s in bed and Link has just finished the dishes. He blows out the torches on the wall, opens the door to go outside, and at that moment Zelda opens her mouth to speak but all that comes out is a breath. Link still pauses. Zelda hopes he can’t see her blush. She tries speaking again.

“Link?”

Link looks at her.

“Could you stay with me, again?”

He pauses before shaking his head. She usually can’t make out his signs in the dark, but she has an idea of what he’s saying.

“Link, you don’t… you can protect me from here.”

Her face is on fire.

Link’s mouth opens in almost a gasp, before he closes the door slowly. She can’t see his drawer from the bed, but she can hear the rustling of him changing his clothes.

Dressed down, he climbs up the stairs. Zelda scoots to the wall, giving him space to get into the too-small bed. She falls asleep with their backs together.


End file.
